The present invention relates to a telephone line control transfer system, and more specifically, to a system for transferring telephone line utilization rights from a base terminal, for example a portable telephone, to one or more remote terminals, to effectively use telephone lines.
In recent years, mobile communications terminal devices, such as portable telephones, personal handyphone systems (PHS), and personal digital assistants (PDA) have rapidly grown in popularity. As a consequence, it has become common for individuals to use two telephone lines separately in their day-to-day lives, one line being an ordinary wired household telephone line, and the other being the wireless line of a mobile communications terminal device.
Recent years have also seen an increase of the popularity of info-communications networks such as the Internet. As a result, users of info-communications networks have come to be able to receive a variety of services using the above-mentioned mobile communications terminal devices, including sending and receiving e-mails, obtaining various types of information, purchasing products, and making hotel and ticket reservations.
In addition, the next generation of portable telephone has recently been proposed in the form of a multi-functional terminal device equipped with such functions as reception of various broadcasts, video telephone, and navigation using multiple artificial satellites via the global positioning system (GPS). Another prediction for the shape of the next generation of portable telephones is the partition of a single line into multiple lines, and the offering of so-called multi-rate and multi-call functions, wherein various portable telephones use the same partitioned line, allowing the corresponding multiple portable telephones to communicate over the same line simultaneously.
This situation is predicted to expand the types of devices available to the users for receiving info-communications network services from the above-mentioned mobile communications terminals and PCs to televisions and other consumer electronics devices. It is also predicted that in the near future, info-communications network access functions will be built into all electrical appliances, and that these will be able to access info-communications networks via telephone lines and other means, for the purpose of data communications, billing processing by service providers, and the like.
This trend toward possession of multiple telephone lines, the addition of telephone functions to electrical appliances, and the like will make user authentication increasingly important Take the example of a case where an unspecified large number of users are at a meeting at work or in a similar situation, and in the room is located a common television, by means of which the users access an info-communications network and receive certain services. In this case, the parties that should be billed for these services are the unspecified large number of users who accessed the network, but in practical terms it is unfeasible to authenticate the parties who should be billed.
To contrast this situation, there is a system to provide a uniform service to the corresponding unspecified large number of users, who each utilize his own personal terminal device, and each of these plural devices accesses the info-communications network simultaneously using individual terminal device IDs specific to each terminal device. With this type of system, it is possible to identify each user to be billed. However, in this case it will be inconvenient if one desires to bill the costs of the service(s) to the company.
Meanwhile, there is a demand for mobile communications terminal devices to have such features which lead to ease of mobility as compact size and light weight. As a result, there have been a number of difficulties with their use. For example, a small keypad brought on by the downsizing of the unit made its operation difficult and mistakes easy to be made, and there are limits to the memory , the display area, and the time of continuous use.
Because of these problems, it would be preferable for the users indoors such as at home or in the office to use an electronic device suitable for accessing and receiving services over the info-communications network In this case, however, if new lines and IDs for the subscribers must be established for electronic devices other than mobile communications terminal devices, it would create more problems It would greatly complicate ID management and the base fees for utilization rights on a subscriber line would cost more
For example, take a case that a user utilizes a portable telephone or other mobile communications terminal device to access an info-communications network and obtain a stock market report. The small size of the display area makes it impossible to make out and/or display the lines of graphs showing movements in stock prices, and other detailed information that is most important to the user. In this case, it would be appropriate to use a device with a large display screen, such as a television at home, in stead of the mobile communications terminal device in order to display this detailed information. This solution, however, necessitates that the television or other device be hooked up to a subscriber line, and that a user ID be established for that device as well. However, if all the family members use this home television to access an info-communications network and obtain a servicexe2x80x94for example a ticket reservation. In this case, settings such as the user ID and other information must be modified for each family member, making management inconvenient.
Furthermore, if in the future all electrical products come to be equipped with the above-mentioned telephone functions, then each of these products will have to be allocated a separate telephone number and billed a base telephone fee. This would create a huge burden, both in terms of managing each telephone number and in terms of cost as well.
As shown here, present systems have great difficulty in effectively utilizing telephone lines and conducting billing that meets user intentions, despite the fact that even further development of mobile communications terminal devices in the near future can be assured.
The object of the present invention is to provide a system that helps improve the level of services for the users, effectively utilizing telephone lines and conducting billing that meets user intentions when utilizing the info-communication network.
The telephone line control transfer system according to the present invention has a host computer which controls communications services provided by telecommunications carriers; a base terminal having base ID information which the host computer can identify; and a plurality of remote terminals having remote terminal ID information which the host computer can identify, and which, upon receiving transfer of control from the base terminal, communicate with the host computer; the base terminal having a first communication means to communicate with each remote terminal; a selection means to select n remote terminals (n being an integer greater than or equal to 1) to which the control is to be transferred among the remote terminals which have communicated via the first communication means; and a control means to control the first communication means; the remote terminal having a first communication means to communicate with the base terminal; a second communication means to communicate with the host computer; and a control means to control the first communication means and the second communication means; the control means of the base terminal controlling the first communication means in order to generate n remote IDs based on the base ID information, from which the host computer can specify the base ID information, for n remote terminals selected using the selection means, and send the generated remote IDs in turn to each remote terminal; and the control means of each remote terminal controlling the second communication means in order to, upon receipt of the remote terminal ID from the base terminal via the first communication means, append the remote terminal ID information to the received remote terminal ID, and send the results thereof to the host computer via the second communication means.
Here the base ID information may be any information that allows the host computer to identify the base terminal, but preferably is the telephone number information of the base terminal""s user.
In addition, providing the base terminal with a second communication means to communicate with the host computer allows the base terminal and remote terminals to communicate with the host computer simultaneously. Here, the base terminal communicates with the host computer via the second communication means, within a communication rate range pre-allocated by the host computer. In this case, the base terminal transfers control to n remote terminals, so that each of the remote terminals communicates simultaneously with the host computer via the second communication means, at a communication rate within the range pre-allocated by the host computer. Furthermore, in this case the base terminal, upon transferring control, may specify the communication rate to use with the second communication means for at least one of the n remote terminals.
When providing the second communication means for the base terminal, the base terminal may transfer control so that the second communication means of the base terminal and the second communication means of each of the n remote terminals communicate simultaneously with the host computer, within the communication rate range pre-allocated by the host computer.
In this case, the base terminal, upon transferring control, may specify the communication rate to use with the second communication means for the base terminal and/or at least one of the n remote terminals.
The base terminal is constituted in such a manner that the control means controls the first communication means to send the remote terminal IDs, authentication information, and control content information showing control content to be transferred, to each of n remote terminals selected via the selection means.
In addition, the base terminal includes a display means to display a list of remote terminals which have communicated via the first communication means, and a configuration input means to configure n remote terminals from among the list of remote terminals displayed by the display means, to which control is to be transferred.
Meanwhile, the host computer has a communication rate monitoring unit which monitors the combined communication rate of communications by the base terminal and each of the n remote terminals via each second communication means, and adjusts this rate so that it falls within the communication rate range pre-allocated to the base terminal.
Here, in the event that the combined communication rate of communications by the base terminal and each of the n remote terminals via each second communication means exceeds the communication rate range pre-allocated to the base terminal, the communication rate monitoring unit of the host computer either proportionally reduces the communication rate used by each second communication means of the base terminal and the n remote terminals or reduces the communication rate of the base terminal and/or remote terminals that is not specified upon transfer of control from the base terminal to the n remote terminals.
The host computer exerts control so that the communications services provided by telecommunications carriers are received by the second communication means of each of the remote terminals, based on their remote terminal IDs and remote terminal ID information sent from the second communication means of each remote terminal. In this case, the host computer has a billing processing unit which processes the billing charged to the user having the base ID information, for communications services provided by telecommunications carriers.
The host computer controls connection service to, e.g., the Internet and other telephones as the communications services provided by telecommunications carriers.
Meanwhile, the remote terminals, being transferred some or all of the functions of the base terminal, communicate with the host computer via the second communication means.
Additionally, the remote terminals communicate with the host computer via the second communication means until receiving a control transfer halt signal via the first communication means signaling the halt of transfer of control.